"So derogatory; What a shame"- Fans react to F1 chief's 'very unlikely to see a girl driver on grid in next five years' remarks

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali's recent comments ahead of the Belgian GP that he doesn't see a female driver gracing the sport in the next five years haven't gone down well with fans.

In an interview with Motorsport.com, Domenicali said that while there are steps being taken at the grassroots level, it's highly unlikely a female F1 driver would emerge in the next five years.

The comments far from enthused fans, who lashed out at the Italian, slamming him for being 'derogatory' and biased. Interestingly, there are no female drivers in F2 and F3 - the next two tiers of the sport.

Nevertheless, here are some reactions from fans on Domenicali's comments.

"Oh ffs this makes me want to tear my bra off and beat him with it, also try calling them women and not girls Stefano. So derogatory, even if he doesn’t realise it. Sighs"

"I shall only say a few words. Michele Mouton, Lela Lombardi, Desire Wilson, Danica Patrick, Jamie Chadwick, and we can name more… speak to the people that know, that really know, and report back what these ladies could’ve, and, for one, could still achieve in F1. Cut the"

"This is all a decision though. A conscious decision. They’re just deciding to not bring through a female driver. Not because of talent or anything but purely due to being female. There’s really no excuse."

"I mean, there's no female driver in F2 or F3. One full time female driver in FRECA. So yeah, it's unlikely someone who isn't yet in the third tier below F1 will get to F1 in five years. Unless they come from outside the fia single seater ladder, which the fia isn't keen on"

"But old White men managing FIA? They have puh-lenty to spare."

"I don't think this is the reason. If there are female pilots in the thunderbirds air force display team and flying fighter jets, they can absolutely drive an f1 car. The problem is there are hardly any young female drivers. At our local go kart series there are zero girls"

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Sebastian Vettel disagrees with F1 CEO's comments

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel doesn't agree with Domenicali's comments, though. The German added that he would encourage every girl to prove Domenicali wrong.

Vettel said that there is no reason why a female driver can't be on the grid.

"I don't see a reason why we can't have a woman on the grid. I think the challenges we are facing, they can be faced by women. So, I do the opposite. I encourage every girl at the breakfast lunch or dinner table to speak up and prove Stefano, in this regard, wrong and all these people wrong."

There is, however, an aspect fans and even Vettel might have missed. Domenicali never said that the sport cannot have a female driver.

He said that considering the current layout where there aren't any notable female talents in the junior categories, it's unlikely for someone to emerge out of the blue. Domenicali said that it's something the sport is trying to address and change in the future.

"Realistically speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite, I don't see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years,"said Domenicali. "That is very unlikely. We are very happy with the collaboration with Formula W. But we believe that to be able to give the chance to girls to be at the same level of competition with the guys, they need to be at the same age when they start to fight on the track at the level of Formula 3 and Formula 2."

The Italian added that F1 is trying to improve the system and help build up the right parameters.

"We are working on that to see what we can do to improve the system. And you will see soon some action," he said. "We want to build up the right parameters with the right approach for them to start racing against the guys, at the right age, with the right car."

It remains to be seen how the sport's structure changes to encourage the emergence of female drivers.